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Jackal
The Jackal were a necromantic cult that operated in and around Medinat al-Salaam, and now Rokugan. They served masters unknown in the depths of the Burning Sands, and worked to prevent the Awakening of the Goddess, who was also known as Shinjo. The Jackals were known and feared for their ability to raise the dead into creatures called ghuls. The Jackals They could be identified by a mark in the neck that bore all of them. Soul Stealing (LBS - The Awakening flavor) Origin Gods The jackal worshipped alien masters beyond the Ebon Stone. Starter Quotes (LBS - The Awakening) The Dark God inside was revered and feared at the same time. They believed that if the Ebon Stone broke he would undo the world. Seeing themselves as the mortal world's only true defenders against the god of the Ebon Stone, they sought to frustrate the prophecy of the Awakening, unaware that contact with the Stone had exposed them to the manipulation of the Lying Darkness. Legend of the Burning Sands Roleplaying Game, p. 251 The Khayel The Khayel, Slaves of Mortals, Part II, by Patrick Kapera or Sayel, known as the Lying Darkness by the Moto, masqueraded the Jackal's ancient gods. Re-Awakening, Part 1, by Lucas Twyman The Jackals did not know that those who had failed the Test were the ones seduced by the Lying Darkness. Legend of the Burning Sands Roleplaying Game, p. 246 Members The cult was formed from would-be members of the Order of the Ebon Hand who had failed the Test of the Ebon Stone. The sewers of Medinaat al-Salaam were their home, emerging to strike at the world above in pursuit of a dark and brooding agenda. The Ebon Stone of the Ebonites was in some ways the center of their existence, for they worshipped the god they believed resided in the Stone, yet also feared it for the horrors it would bring about if it were ever released. History Chased by the Ebonites The Ebonites allowed those who did not pass the Test, the outcasts, to live. Legend of the Burning Sands Roleplaying Game, p. 268 Eventually one of these survivors who had joined the Jackal brotherhood told the secrets of the Order to the Cult of Ruhmal. The Ebonites chased the Jackals and killed any of them who was found. In return, the Jackals rescued any who failed the Test, and if they were already dead, their corpses were raised as ghuls. They discovered the Lake of Souls and found the Soul of the Slayer. Legend of the Burning Sands Roleplaying Game, pp. 247-248 First Contact with the Emerald Empire In the 7th century the Jackals became aware of renegade Emerald Empire samurai who had acquired the Shadowlands Taint and become outcast from their people. Over the years, the Jackals kept themselves informed about these foreigners. Legend of the Burning Sands Roleplaying Game, p. 247 Immortal Caliph During the reign of the Immortal Caliph Hanan Talibah the Jackals continued their fight with the Ebonites, but the relations with other factions was fluid. The Jackals were the terror of Medinaat al-Salaam. Legend of the Burning Sands Roleplaying Game, p. 248 They allied with the ambassador from Jigoku, the Ma'Ghul. The Ma'ghul (LBS - The Awakening Boxtext) Prophecy Following the mandates of their Gods the Jackals strived to prevent the prophecy's coming fulfillment, the Awakening. Their targets were the Avatars, the beings whose blood was the key to the Awakening and whom the soul-stealers believed were harbingers of a dark age for humankind. Should the Jackals fail, the world would be plunged into a perilous period of history in which the souls of humanity would be forfeit to a terrifying lord of madness and eternal night. Awakening The jackal worked towards a goal of great good by performing acts of great evil. Despite their efforts, the Awakening happened in 1132, releasing the Goddess Shinjo. The jackal tried to gain control of the Stone several times. An important attack was made shortly after the Goddess was released, but the Ebonites repelled them. Slaves of Mortals, Part I, by Patrick Kapera But their gods said truth, and the Awakening allowed a young Senpet sahir to locate and destroy the Ebon Stone, that fueled so many of the city's evils for so long. It released the Lying Darkness into the world from where Shinjo had bound it. Kaleel The Ebon Stone, the center of their devotion had been destroyed, and the alien God was revealed as the Lying Darkness. It lowered the moral of the Jackals and many of their members left them. They made an ill-fated alliance with the jinn Lord Kaleel, who had been released during the events of the Awakening. Post-Awakening The Jackals were crushed by the Celestial Alliance along with the jinn Kaleel after the Awakening, followed by persecution from the Ebonites afterward, and they fell into a deep and extended period of decline. With most of their best leaders dead and their followers destroyed or scattered, the Jackals no longer exerted the influence they once had. The remnant of the Jackals in Medinaat al-Salaam raised havoc when it could, under the leadership of the legendary Monkey Man. Its renowned and feared Hall of Souls had been completely destroyed. Jackals' Hall of Souls (LBS - The Awakening flavor) Cult of Ruhmal In 1151 the Cult of Ruhmal became a faction within the Jackals, joining them in the sewers to escape from the Ebonite retaliation. In 1156 the Ebonites concentrated their efforts in the Jewel, affecting much of the Jackal activities, and disappeared. Their alliance had become dangerous and risked their own supervivence. The Ruhmalists were quickly destroyed or expelled by the Ebonites. Legend of the Burning Sands Roleplaying Game, pp. 248-249 Rokugan The Jackal had arrived in Rokugan in 1168 and formed an alliance with the Dark Lord Daigotsu, by offering him intelligence and advice. Daigotsu regarded the cult with a healthy disdain, considering their skills mere cheap trickery, but the creature called the Ghul Lord, Th'lazz, and one of the Dark Lord's allies, asked Daigotsu not to destroy them. The Jackal came with a warning, that a greater darkness than even Daigotsu himself, Kali-Ma, was arising in the lands of the west and that the Dark lord should move to claim his empire quickly. Daigotsu moved out of the Shadowlands entering the Empire and the warning they made would follow in the creation of the Spider Clan. Dawn of the Spider (Imperial Herald v2#21), The Scarab Case In 1168 Daigotsu Rekai recovered the Scarab Case from the Tomb of the Seven Thunders. The Battle at the Tomb, Part 4, by Shawn Carman and Nancy Sauer and it was identified as an object of great power by the Ghul Lord. A Container of Sand, by Rusty Priske The case was being used by a small number of Jackals serving under Daigotsu. Prayers and Treasures, p. 178 Ebon Daughter In 1169 Imperial Histories 2, p. 249 the Jackals used a ruhmalist ritual to bring about an ancient prophecy which called for one of honor to be consumed by darkness and turn against her people as the Ebon Daughter. The Ebon Daughter became the high priestess of the Cult of Ruhmal and the favored daughter of their patron, the sinister entity called Kali-Ma. Ebon Daughter Dossier (Imperial Herald v3 #Special) The Ebon Daughter nearly annihilated the ancient foes of the Jackal, the Order of the Ebond Hand. Schism Some of the Spider fled the Burning Sands, seeing Kali-Ma, the Destroyer One, as their enemy. First was the Monkey Man, later Master Saleh and Fatina. They went to Rokugan, a land where breed killers of Gods. The Widening Circle, by Nancy Sauer Ruined Ivory Kingdoms A settlement of Jackal refugees 2012 Kotei: The Age of Exploration was built in the Ivory Kingdoms, living in a network of subterranean tunnels, expertly disguised. This particular section of the jungle looked particularly thick and inaccessible on account of a large number of geographical features that prevented travel. In 1198 the lair was found by the Rokugani, and destroyed them. The Age of Exploration, Part 4, by Shawn Carman Jackal Schools * Jackal Necromancer * Jani * Kabir Known Jackals * Enala - Champion * Fatima * Fatina * Kalesha Sesh * Master Saleh * Monkey Man * Ramontet * Th'lazz * Wardah * Yufet *